ePerreorrlenin Olitgactm
PAGE SIX
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the very nature of this stiff - necked
race to resist all destructive and per-
nicious forces. Modern sociology
gives much credit to the purity and
influence of the home as an institu-
By SARAH GOLDBERG
tion of the Jews in the Middle Ages.
.
The home and the morality and I
"On account of our many trans- the long and cruel centuries. A na-
gressions," cried the wretched Jews tion without a home, without a land, love which it fostered were the main-
as they saw their beautiful temple without a spiritual and political cen- stay of the Jews during those evil
destroyed, their beloved city leveled ter, lived and mocked at the ravages times, and because the home centers
and their brethren scattered over the of time. Lived and prospered in spite so largely about the wife and mother,
face of the earth. Back in the dim of the infinite hatred and hostility the Jewess may justly claim a large
past, God had promised Israel that allied against it. In the midst of in- share of the glory in the miraculous
his descendants would be numberless credible and unparalleled persecu- preservation of her people.
and that they would replenish the tiers, wholesale massacres and intel-
Then too, much bravery was need-
world. Yet here they were, in the le.tual soil spiritual isolation, it con- ed in those days of massacres and
second century of the Christian era, tinued to live, to flourish and to mul. forced baptisms. The Jew had to
their homes and temple in ruins, and ti ply know how to fight and how to die for
Throughout 16 centuries—from his religious beliefs. And the Jewess
a mere few millions of them dispersed
—some in captivity, some in slavery, the beginning of the supremacy of knew how to sacrifice herself hero-
but .all . in adversity. Truly,. their Christianity up to the inodern, en- ically 'for her God. In this she was
transgressions must have been both lightened 'free era—the dominant at- more courageous than the stronger
titude toward the Jew had been either sex. She inspired and spurred on
numerous and great.
In the beginning of the Middle annihilation or baptism. There passed her brothers to suffer torture and
Ages, Jewish communities were to be ages of oscillation between massa- death rather than receive the cross.
found in all the larger towns and cres, inquisitions and expulsions, yet And by the inspiration of her mar-
cities of Spain, Italy, Germany and the Jews were neither annihilated nor tyrdom she helped to save her people
France, as well as in the East. There baptized. The complete isolation nei- from obliteration.
The peculiar organization and con-
they lived in the small quarters which ther paralyzed nor degenerated their
later became the legalized and com- intellectual and spiritual propensities. ditions of Jewish life in the Middle
Ages
were not only favorable to the
When
they
were
finally
emancipated
pulsory ghettos; imitated their Chris-
tian neighbors in dress, customs, and from their dismal, mediaeval Ghettos, status to which the Talmud assigned
women,
but even fostered it. Every-
when
they
were
permitted
to
see
the
habits; and, whenever tolerated, took
active part in the life and problems light of a kinder, superior age—the where the Jews were a small state
within
a
larger and hostile state.
Jews
emerged
numerically,
morally
of the city. Yet, in spite of every-
thing, they did not forget the God of and spiritually stronger and greater Their only contact with the outside
Christian
world
came through the ex-
their fathers nor the laws of the Holy than when they had entered, though
Scriptures and the Talmud, Faith- wanting a cultural life and its habits. orbitant taxes wrung from them by
Wherein lie the causes of this enig- the kings and their nobles. In their
fully, zealously they adhered to the
Torah and lovingly performed all the matic mysterious preservation of the secluded quarters, the Jews contin-
Jewish nation? The religious still ued to live In le old, traditional
duties prescribed by the Talmud.
Sphinx-like; the small Jewish na- contend that it was the will of the manner.
Thu synagogue was the center and
tion, now consisting of little commu- true and only God to prevent His
nities scattered all over the East and people from being conquered and ex- pivot of the mediaeval Jew's exist-
the West, continued to exist during terminated. Others argue that it is in ence and his attitude to it was his
Jewish Women in the Middle Ages
L
0114110140•400•1•1011110110011111010011
THOUGH, I SIT IN DARKNESS
0 silent Dove, pour out thy whispered prayer,
Stricken amid the tents of Meshekh;
And lift up thy soul tilito God—
Thy banner, thy charffit and thy horseman—
Who kindleth the light of thy sun:
Who formeth light and createth darkness.
We Wish You All
71 1 a P P
To the whole He called with His word,
And it arose in a moment, at His bidding,
To show unto all the strength of His glory
In a world which, no longer void, Ile had formed,
What time, from the east, unto His light
He called and moved the darkness.
And the host of His heavens heard
The word: "Let there be Light;" and it was known
That•there is a Rock by whom are cleft
The clouds, and the corner-stones laid.
And they gave thanks to their Maker, since they knew
The excellency of light over darkness.
So will Ile yet light up my gloom,
And uphold him who raiaeth my fallen estate,
And make the light of mine assembly shine forth.
Then the chosen one yet shall boast herself :
"Behold the light of the Rock of my praise
Is mine, though I sit in dark ness."
--JHUDAH
IIALEVI.
E
IJ.nsh Publication Sociatf•/
ear
e111
Detroit Mirror _ Works
— Manufacturers of
MIRRORS
Beveled Plate and
Leaded Art Glass
attitude toward life in general. It matics, physics, astronomy and phi-
ruled his moral, social, legal and com- losophy." Kolonymos lived in Prov-
mercial ideas and behavior. It was ence, where the Jews, influenced by
the supreme institution by which both their Spanish co-religionists, had ab-
the fanatic, semi-ignorant German sorbed the Greek culture and philoso-
Jews and the aristocratic, cultured phy then known to the intellectual
and liberal Spanish and Italian Jews world.
The home continued to be the Jew-
were guided. Though the architec-
2132 TO 2144 BAKER STREET
ture of the synagogues, the customs ess' domain. Her position and influ-
ence
there were not inferior to those
in
and the manner of prayer differed
Corner Fourteenth
accordance with the wealth and cul- held by her sex in Talmudic times
ture of the various Jewish communi- She was still the loved helpmate, tin
Phone Cadillac 4216
ties, the Talmud remained the leading respected consort of her husband, tin
devoted mother and tutor of her chil
principle of all.
dren. Her lack of knowledge of and
In fact, the Talmud was the very
training in religious ritual and dutie
raison d' etre of the synagogue. For
resulted in the domesticity of he
that reason its philosophy was univer-
husband, who often went to market
sally accepted and its laws and de- to buy the food, assisted in its prep-
crees faithfully executed. The Tal-
oration and arranged and conducted
mudic conceptions of woman, for ex- the religious services in the home.
ample, prevailed. The wealthy, pol- There seems, however, to have been
ished, educated Spanish Jewess had
no disharmony on that ground. All
the same legal and social status as accounts indicated that it was a happy
her less fortunate German sister. and congenial life, the only clear light
Their position in the community was
in their gloomy existence.
the same. Though the Spanish Jewess
Many inspiring stories are told of
had a smattering of Greek philoso- the religious enthusiasm and fearless-
phy, Arabic poetry and literature her ness of the medieval Jewess. The
ignorance of Ilebrew culture and re- pious monks discovered to their great
ligion was no less than that of the
Cadillac 3285
3402 Beaubien
surprise that the pale and sad-eyed
German and French Jewess.
women actually prevented their weak-
As the synagogue was the court of er brothers from openly accepting
justice, the justice it meted out and Christianity in order to save their
PERRY FEIGENSON, President
the laws it set up were those of the lives. Thereupon, these religious
Talmud. The same inequality be- Christians burnt 67 Jewesses at the
BEN FEIGENSON, Vice-President
tween the legal status of the sexes stake, as a warning to the women of
MILTON BERNSTEIN, Secretary-Treasurer
continued. In this, woman's position other ghettos. During the first cru-
was both negative and inferior. Still, sade, the Jewish women of Maycene
the times had changed, new problems assembled themselves and their chil-
came up which required solutions not dren and begged the men to kill them
.....................................\
given by the Talmud and a few new and then commit suicide rather than )
laws were added. Due to early mar- forsake their God. The women of
riages—s girl of 7 and a boy of 10 the congregation at Treves killed /I
were married in those days—and to their small children when they learnt 1 p
the ease with which men obtained it, that an army of monks was coming to
divorce was very prevalent. Rabbi carry them off to a monastery nearby
Gershon prohibited wilful divorce of where they were to be taught the
husbands and made the laws more Christian religion. Many women,
stringent as well as less unfavorable weighted down by stones, threw them-
to women.
selves into the river in order to es-
In the early Middle Ages there cape forced baptism or disgrace. The
were still many lapses from monog- historian Greets reports that over
amy, while in the East and in Spain 100,000 thus met death.
A touching story is related of the
polygamy prevailed up to the four-
teenth century. The rabbinical 'syn- wife of a certain Rabbi Moses, who
ods formed a law prohibiting a man sought death rather than be forced
from marrying a second time without into unfaithfulness. Attracted by her
the consent of his wife. If he mar- beauty, the captain of the vessel on
ried against her wishes, she had the which they were crossing the Mediter-
right to obtain a divorce and get ranean made persistent advances to
back her dowry. There was a decree her. One bright morning, while the
which enabled a woman to get a di- captain was standing beside her, she
vorce for being beaten, or, if she pre- asked her husband in Ilebrew whether
ferred, to compel her husband to give those who perished in the sea could
hope for resurrection and receiving
her separate maintenance.
The synagogue was also the com- an answer in the affirmative, she
munal center of the ghetto. There threw herself into the Mediterranean.
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-- from —
JOHN C. NAGEL
If the heart of an apartment house
is its elevator service, it must follow
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COUNCILMAN
A. B. 0.Y E E
ELEVATOR
COMPANY
the Jews gathered to rejoice over each
other's sorrow's. It was an amuse-
ment, lecture and wedding hall, as
well as a place of prayer. In the
thirteenth century the sexes were sep-
arated in the synagogue. The piet-
ists, witnessing the gross immorality
of their Christian neighbors and
wishing to prevent any such possible
conditions in their own community,
decided upon this radical change.
Then, too, the horrors and miseries
they had suffered during the Cru-
sades had made them even more re-
ligious and fanatically ' desirous of
performing each letter of the law.
And somewhere in the Talmud they
had read that it was best for the
sexes to be separated. With their sep-
aration in the synagogue came their
segregation in all social and commu-
nal functions held there. Men and
women were forbidden to dance,
feast or communicate with each other.
Children played with only their own
DETROIT OFFICE
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holiday Greetings
1925
The Grange Life Insurance Co.
Through Its Detroit Representative
MEYER LASSER
EXTENDS TO ITS HUNDREDS OF JEW-
ISH FRIENDS AND ACQUAINTANCES
ITS HEARTIEST WISHES FOR A HAP-
PY AND PROSPEROUS NEW YEAR
MEYER LASSER
GRANGE LIFE INSURANCE CO.
1020 LAFAYETTE BUILDING
MEYER LASSER, Detroit Manager
CADILLAC 7698
III
The Jewish New Years, Rosh Hashonah,
being the most important and significant
occasion in the lives of the Jewish people,
may I not offer my most sincere felicitations
and best wishes for a Happy and Prosperous
New Year.
As a whole, the life of the Jewish
woman in the Middle Ages was nei-
ther unhappy nor disparaging. Theo
pcwor mswpowissompocwoomsomswommoompatmcv
relic inferiority, legal disqualifica-
tions and unequal opportunities were
We Wish All Our Friends and Patrons a Happy and
evidently not fully maintained. Many
names of gifted, capable women of
Prosperous New Year.
that period have come down to us.
The number of mothers who did prac-
tical cultural and social work is too
numerous to be dealt with in a short
treatise. In fact, one may take the
type of personality and the kind of
fame these women achieved as an in-
dex to the cultural and spiritual
achievements of their people.
In Moslem Spain, where the Jew s
enjoyed much liberty and opportu-
COFFEE ROASTERS
nity, they developed a great Spanish-
MEATS — BAKERY
Jewish culture, rich in poetry, phi-
losophy, science and philology. At its
zenith, it produced Jehudah Haley',
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LINWOOD AND GLADSTONE
one of the greatest Hebrew lyric
- sex.
No educational system was provid - poets of all time, the philosopher
ed for women. The Talmud was ad- Maimonides and the theologian, Ibn
verse to the education of women and Gabirol, as well as many lesser of poets
cul- 5.:257.525"
age
their religious duties required little and critics. This golden
111111111111111111111111111C
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knowledge of the Talmud, which to ture also produced poetesses and
the medieval Jews was the only knid many learned and cultivated women.
of learning necessary. One critic, sa- In the light of their inequality of
tirist and philosopher of fourteenth opportunity and subordinate position,
century Jewry, summed up her edu- the achievements of these women can-
cational standing when he ironically not be considered inferior to those
remarked that he "wished he were of the men.
The daughter of Jehudah Halevi
----- from —
born a woman, for he would then not
have to bear the burden of 613 reli- was a poetessof much note, but be-
cause
of
her
illustrious
father
and
gious laws, besides so many Talmud!.
cal restrictions and rigorous ordi- poet-husband, Ibn Ezra, her fame and
accomplishments were lost. The Ivric
nances. As a woman he would not
have to trouble himself with so much poems of the Jewess Xemosa were
reading, studying of the Bible, Tal- sung and admired at the time. The
mud and subjects belonging to it, nor wife of the great Spanish Jewish
was
torment himself with logic, mathe- statesman, Joseph Ibn Magdilo,
A. N. Andrews & Co.
GROCERS
;New
gessage
amesj.Murphy
Councilman
SEASON'S GREETINGS
to the
Jewish People
o betroit
and Everywhere.
Let 'Jack" do your
PLUMBING
We are equipped to ren-
der immediate service
on all kinds of plumb-
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JACK LEWINE
YOUR REPAIR WORK
Will Command Our
IMMEDIATE ATTENTION
May I not offer my heartiest congratulations on
this auspicious occasion and hope with you that
Jewish world affairs may turn favorably in the
ensuing year and that happiness and prosperity
may greet and reward you.